Daily Yellowstone journal., 1887-07-28
BADGER BATTING OUT WEST.
A Favorite Sport In Southern California
The Game Caught Mapping.

The Game Caught Mapping.
The favorite sport in northern California
and over the entire state is coursing with
greyhounds. Some of the finest dogs in
the world are owned in this state, and so
finely are they trained and bred that the
jackrabbit, one of the swiftest of its kind,
has little chance Of escape from them.
The evolutions of pursued and pursuers
are of the greatest interest. The badger,
while common, is rarely met with, and
not one Californian in a thousand has
seen iOne alive in the open country,
though probably thousands have fallen
into badger holes. In appearances the
animal resembles a short, ilattened out
bear. Its colors are black and white,
attractively arranged, so that it presents
a striking and conspicuous appearance.
Its mouth is armed with n powerful
array of teeth, and in the arrangement
of the jaw we find a popularity not
found in any other mammal, 50 that it
is almost impossible to dislocate it,
which explains the bulldog like tenacity
of the animals grip. In its habits the
badger is quiet and harmless. remaining
in its burrow during the day time, and
roaming around at night in search Of
food.
In olden times in England, badger bait.
ing consisted in capturing the animal,
placing it in a depression in the ground,
and then setting the dogs upon it. The
dog that succeeded in taking it out and
killing it was supposed to he the victor,
though all undoubtedly aided in wearing
it out. In southern California the GU
rious animal is occasionally found out of
its burrow during the day, and will af-
ford fine sport to riders who endeavor to
capture it by the aid of dogs. A robust
badger is a match for half a dozen ordi-
nary greyhounds, hence the fight is not
so onesided as might lie imagined.
One morning just as the sur was riding
Over the Arizona desert and starting The
night shadows in the deep canyons of the
Sierra Madres, a party Of horsemen rode
over the mesa. literally wading through
the flowers. A pack of greyhounds fol-
lowed, while a number Of foxhounds ran
here and there breaking out now and
then into fitful intonations as a rabbit
trail was crossed. Finally a great COM
motion is heard in a clump Of eucalyptus
trees: a rush is made, the horsemen sur
rounding the spot where the hounds are
uttering cries that tell of game i'm
the tolls. For a moment nothing
is seen; then n black and white
furry object. as big as some Of the
dogs, appears in the midst of them;
now on its back. swapping viciously: now
clinging 10 a dog with a vice like grip,
and tearing with its powerful claws. The
badger had been caught mapping, and was
bounced upon by the dogs while lying in
a root hole, where some n had taken
up a eucalyptus. In this fortiiication the
animal had an advantage which it was
not slow to follow up, and as the excited
dogs fell or rolled in upon it they were
bitten, torn and scratched with a spirit
that told Of considerable reserve power
on the part Of the animal.
Good fox hounds are rare in southern
California, and as there were several in
the pack taking their punishment too
well To suit their owners, the latter made
an attempt to close in IN the badger; but
the dogs, wild with rage, crowded on,
and in a moment the unfortunate beast
was under a heap of hounds. The dogs
were hauled off and thrown aside, beaten
and yelled at, and finally the horses were
driven among them, and all that re-
mained of the badger was hauled out.
The animal weighed thirty pounds. and
its powerful claws told the story of its
staying powers. The skin was saved MS
a trophy and afterward made intoa stool.
The hair Of the animal is extremely val.
liable in trade, being utilized in the man.
ufacture of brushes, for which purpose
hundreds Of badgers are killed yearly in
Europe. San Gabriel Cali Cor. New
York Commercial Advertiser.